Diatoms were found to be the dominant plankters in Iowa farm ponds. A winter bloom of Synedra acus var. radians (Kutz.) Hust is described

Ohl, Lloyd E.

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 71 Annual Issue Article 11 1964 Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a Farm Pond Lloyd E. Ohl Iowa State University Let us know how access to this document benefits you Copyright ©1964 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Ohl, Lloyd E. (1964) "Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a Farm Pond," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 71(1), 67-71. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol71/iss1/11 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a Farm Pond 1 LLOYD E. OHL 2 Abstract. Diatoms were found to be the dominant plank-ters in Iowa farm ponds. A winter bloom of Synedra acus var. radians (Kutz.) Hust is described. Many planktonic diatom pulses from lakes and rivers have been described ( 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), but no record has been found of diatom blooms in farm ponds. Swingle ( 7) investigated 30-50 Alabama farm ponds at 2-3 week intervals over a five year period and concluded that diatoms were relatively unimportant in these ponds. During the winter of 1963-64 a bloom of Synedra acus var. radians (Kutz.) Hust. was observed in an Iowa farm pond. This bloom persisted during the entire period of ice cover. The study site was a 5 acre pond with a maximum capacity of 15.67 acre feet located on the Fred Kruse farm, sec. 16, Yell twp., Boone county, Iowa. Maximum depth was 40 feet. The pond receives the runoff from 115 acres of crop land that annually receives nitrogen fertilizers. The predominant soil Table 1. Results of chemical analysis of water from an Iowa farm pond (All results, with exception of pH, are stated in parts per million) Dates Sampled Ecological C"'J C"'J C"'J C"'J CD C"'J CD C"'J CD 'ii 'ii CD '- CD '- CD '- 'ii CD 'ii CD Factors '- C'l '- lJ) '- ..... CD '- CD '-Gl ..... 00 C'l t- C'l '- 00 '- 'ii '°'l ' ' '- ' ~ lJ) ..... 00 ..... ' 0 ..... ..... C'l ' ' ' ' Gl ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... C'l C"'J pH 8.3 8.0 7.3 7.2 8.1 8.1 6.6 7.8 8.8 8.0 Alkalinity 120 130 160 150 160 185 155 175 165 150 Ca hardness 80 70 90 90 120 125 90 115 110 100 Total Hardness 140 155 160 160 170 195 170 190 170 170 Chlorine 15 10 10 10 10 15 10 15 20 15 Nitrate 0.1 0.8 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.1 Nitrite 0 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.03 T" Silicon 2.0 1.5 1.5 0.4 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.3 Sulfate 30 25 27 55 27 25 35 40 65 35 Phosphate ( 0) T T 0 0 0 0 0 0 T T Iron 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 T T T T T 0.1 Oxygen 8 8 10 5 Carbon Dioxide 2 0 0 4 Turbidity 10 10 10 30 30 10 10 30 30 30 "T = Trace amount 1 This work was supported by a grant from Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, Public Health Service. 2 Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. 67 1Ohl: Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a FaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 196468 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [Vol. 71 type of the drainage basin is Clarion and Webster with lesser areas of Hayden and Nicollet (personal communication with Garwin Carlson, Boone Co. SCS office). The results of chemical analyses of the water as shown in Table 1. Attention to this pond was first drawn when the residents, who use water from the pond for laundry purposes, became alarmed by odors emitted from the water. Investigation by the author showed the objectionable organism at that time to be the dinoflagellate, Ceratium hirundinella ( O.F.M.) Schrank. Suc-ceeding plankton pulses of this pond were also investigated as part of a larger project on farm pond algae with special con-sideration of the possible effects of diatom populations on do-mestic uses of pond water. Plankton and water samples were taken biweekly from Sept-ember 30, 1963 thru March 16, 1964. During periods of open water all collections were made from the end of a low diving board extending approximately ten feet over the water. When work was done through an ice-cover, collections were made from the center of the pond. Plankton collections were taken by two methods. Ten gallons of water from each of six different depths was raised by means of a pump and hose and strained through a No. 25 ( 200 meshes to the inch) silk bolting cloth net. The water was then poured through the net a second time in an attempt to minimize the loss of plankters through the net. Other samples were obtained by settling the plankton from one liter of water. Immediately upon collecting, Lugol's solution was added to hasten settling. The sample was then concentrated by decanting and the plank-ters determined. All counts were made by the Sedgewick Rafter technique. Chemical analyses of the pond water were done with a Hach Model Dr El (Portable Water Laboratory) water testing kit. Determination of thirteen different chemical constituents were made on eleven different dates. In most cases the water samples were taken from 12-18 inches below the surface by means of a hand pump, but on some occasions samples from various levels were taken with a Kemmerrer bottle. Determinations of amounts of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the water were completed in the field. Other chemical determinations were completed with-in 12 hours at the laboratory. During the duration of this study the plankton from 18 other farm ponds was investigated. Diatoms were present in all col-lections and in most cases they constituted the major portion of each collection. (Exceptions to this were during blooms of Ceratium hirundinella or Dinobryon sp.) Yet only one other pond had a diatom bloom and this was of a warm water form 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 71 [1964], No. 1, Art. 11https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol71/iss1/111964] 500 er w400 1-<t :;:: 0 z 0 a.. ..... 0 er ~ 300 \ --1 I I er: I lLl a.. (/) 0 z <t Cf) ~ 200 I I-z Cf) :::;: Cf) z <t (.') er: 100 0 I I I I I I I I I DIATOMS IN IOWA FARM PONDS I I I I I I I I Ii \ ,\ I i I I .... ' . . I I- Temperature _ Synedra acus var. r a di an s Melosira granulala __ Ceratium hirundinella 18 16 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 .j-~'---~~~ . --.--- I 1 0 Octobe: November December January February March 69 I~ n:: ..... llJ a.. 0:: w 1-<.l :,-: Figure 1. Standing crop of dominant planktonic forms in an Iowa farm pond during the winteT of 1963 (All organisms expressed in thousands per unit) ( M elosira granulata (Ehr.) Ralfs that lasted for less than two weeks during August, 1963. In all ponds visited, Synedra acus var. radians, Fragilaria capucina var. mesolepta ( Rabh,) Grun. and Melosira granulata were present in the plankton, but only in the Kruse pond was a plankton population maintained in bloom proportions throughout the winter. 3Ohl: Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a FaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 196470 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [Vol. 71 S. acus and its varieties have been investigated ecologically and several factors have been determined as being favorable for rapid production. A comparison of these conditions with those existing in the Kruse pond follows: 1. Patrick ( 5) recognized high calcium content and low light intensity as being conducive to growth of S. acus. The calcium hardness of the pond investigated was high and averaged ap-proximately 100 ppm. The light intensity was reduced by the thick ice ( 40 cm. of columnar ice) and the low angle of in-cidence of the winter sun. 2. Huber-Pestalozzi ( 4) and others have shown rapid growth of S. acus to he related to low temperatures. The population of S. acus rose with the decrease in temperature (Fig. 1). This effect could be either direct or indirect. The direct effect may be that S. acus is a cold stenotherm; the indirect may be that temperature affects bacterial decomposition, solubility of gases and salts, and the metabolism of competing organisms. (I) a:: w I-U.J :::E z 0 z 0 Cl. LL 0 I I-a.. w 0 0 2 4 6 8 IO+-~~--ir---.~-...~--...~~ 0 0 0 0 0 C\J 0 0 r<l 0 0 l;) 0 0 <O ORGANiSMS IN THnUSANDS PER LITER OF WATER Figure 2. Vertical distribution of Synedra acus var. radians under ice cover in an Iowa farm pond 4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 71 [1964], No. 1, Art. 11https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol71/iss1/111964] DIATOMS IN IOWA FARM PONDS 71 3. Chandler ( 8) and Eddy ( 3) have related rapid growth of S. acus to high turbidity. The differences in turbidity readings are not considered significant in this study in that they reflect variation in population density of planktonic organisms rather than changes in the inert particulate matter. 4. Nitrogen and phosphorus are not reported to act as limit-ing factors, but S. acus is usually found in eutrophic habitats where deficiencies of these metabolites would not be expected to exist. The evidence that a vertical stratification of S. acus did exist beneath the ice cover is of interest in view of the findings of Huber-Pestalozzi ( 4), who found that no stratification of this organism existed in the Swiss cold water lakes. Literature Cited 1. Chandler, D. C. 1940. Ohio ]our. Sci. 40:291-336. 2. -----. 1942. Ohio ]our. Sci. 42:24-44. 3. Eddy, S. 1927. Ill. State Nat. Surv. Bull. 17 :203-232 4. Huber-Pestalozzi, G. 1942. Das Phytoplannton des Susswassers. System-matik und Biologie; in A. Thienemann: Die Binnekgewasser, Band 16, Teil 2, Halfte 2, Diatomeen, Stuttgart. 5. Patrick, R. 1948. Bot. Rev. 14:473-524. 6. Volker, R. 1962. Iowa Acad. Sci. Proc. 69:99-107. 7. Swingle, H. S. 1947. Alabama Polytech. Inst., Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 264, 34 p. 8. Chandler, D. C. 1944. Trans. Amer. Mier. Soc. 63:205-236. Notes on Fleshy Fungi in Iowa. 111 VrncIL K. HowE, Lars H. TIFFANY, AND HAROLD S. McNABB, JR. Abstract. Sixty-four sporocarps of fleshy fungi were col-lected during the summer and fall of 1963. In the collections were seven species, Cortinarius adustus Pk., Cortinarius albidipes Pk., Cortinarius praepallens Pk., Hygrophorus sordidus Pk., Russula aeruginea Lindb. (non Fr.), Russula pulverulenta Pk., and Russula sororia Fr. not previously re-ported for the state of Iowa. Sporocarps of fleshy fungi have been collected for the past two summers in six widely spaced sites in Iowa. Seven species and one genus not previously recorded for the State of Iowa were reported last year from the 1962 summer collections ( 1). Sixty-four sporocarps were collected in the same sites during the summer of 1963. Among the 1963 specimens were seven species not previously reported for Iowa. Previous reports 1 Journal Paper No. J-4853 of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experi-ment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 1251. In cooperation with the Central States Forest Experiment Station, United States Forest Service. 5Ohl: Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a FaPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1964

Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a Farm Pond

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Notes on Iowa Diatoms VII I. Winter Bloom of Synedra acus in a Farm Pond

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